Evil Inside, a Sonic fic
by echelontri
Summary: "Through me you go to the grief wracked halls; Through me you go to everlasting pain; Through me you go a pass among lost souls. Abandon all hope — Ye Who Enter Here" . Miles "Tails" Prower is a kind young fox, and the sidekick of the famous Sonic the Hedgehog. But what will happen after a series of unfortunate events pushes him over the edge?
1. Prologue

The ground shook and cracked. Deep inside the forest, something unusual was happening.

Suddenly, the soil was blown away, as if a volcano had erupted. A massive, dark, foreboding metal fortress rose up from the large hole it had just made. Then, as a long bridge extended outwards towards the edge of the pit, it came to a stop and sat there in complete silence that somehow made it even more unsettling.

What was truly strange, though, was its shape. It wasn't a classical blocky fortress with sharp, jagged edges as you'd expect, oh no - its shape was that of an egg.

.

.

**_italic _- thoughts**

**ALL CAPS - shouting / strong emphasis**

***asterisks* - sounds**

**WARNING: Contains character death and graphic content.**

**This is my first fanfic, and first longer story in general. I'm sorry if you don't like it.**

**Inspired by Grounded at Creepypasta Wiki**


	2. The Threat Emerges

Sonic the Hedgehog was running through the hills near Station Square, as was his daily habit.

Upon reaching the highest point, he sat down in the tall grass and gazed at the landscape below him. *sigh* _It sure is beautiful up here,_ he thought. He saw the vast forest - an ocean of green, the hills around him, a massive dark oval thing on the horizon, the city in the distance... However, it didn't take him long to realise one of those didn't quite fit.

"What's that?" he asked himself, looking at the dark oval. He looked closer. "What IS that?" _Whatever it is, it can't be good... That shape brings back some bad memories... _He jumped to his feet and sped towards it.

In a matter of seconds, he arrived at a bridge, a tube leading to the massive structure. A large void surrounded the entire construction. The earth was scorched and there was smoke everywhere. "An... egg? That can only mean one thing!"

A strange sound interrupted his thoughts. An all to familiar voice came from above, "Hello, Sonic."

The hedgehog looked up and saw just who he was expecting. "You!", he shouted.

"Yes, it is I," the person, sitting in a hovering pod, replied, "Doctor Eggman!"

Sonic and his friends had beaten Eggman in a battle a few weeks before, just after he had gotten his hand on the last chaos emerald. The problem was he'd managed to escape with three of the gems.

"What're you up to this time, doc?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, nothing much... just world domination, you know how it is," replied Eggman.

"Hah! We've stopped you before; we'll do it again!"

"Tsk-tsk-tsk. Sonic, you're so arrogant. You've beaten me before, true, but this time, I will succeed! This time, I don't need any robotic army, I don't need any ancient creature, I don't need any overpowered space cannon, and, most importantly, I don't need to look for those stupid emeralds! The three I've got left over from our last encounter will provide more than enough energy. All I need is a few days - ten, to be accurate - and then all shall bow before me. In fact, my plan is so good, I'll tell you what it is, just so I can watch you fail miserably at trying to stop me!"

"Talk about arrogance," Sonic said. "So, let's hear your plan, if it really is as good as you say!"

"Well, you see," the doctor began, "in my little base, which I call The Egg of Egg-sodus-"

"Oh, brother... another egg pun," said the hedgehog.

*ahem* "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, in my base lies a bomb. It's an antimatter bomb, which means it is extremely powerful. After I produce the required amount of explosive, I'm going to place it onto that meadow you're standing on right now. Then, boom! Everything within a thousand-mile radius will be anihillated."

"What?!" Sonic yelled in disbelief, "You'd blow up everything just so you could build you stupid empire?"

"I think my past deeds speak for themselves," replied the doctor.

"Wait a minute... Where will you go?" asked Sonic.

"Well, by the time you're all getting pulverized, I'll have escaped to a small station in orbit so I can watch you all be destroyed. Anyway, after the detonation, I'm going to roll in with my terraforming crew and finally create my Eggman Empire. And since the bomb is in my unbreachable fortress, all I have to do is sit back and wait. Remember, hedgehog, you've got ten days. You'd better get to work. Goodbye for now!" With those words, Eggman flew back into the base.

"Hey! Get back here, you freak! I'm not done with you yet!", Sonic shouted, but to no avail. He even tried to jump over the gap and bust through the thick plating, but he just couldn't find a way in. Finally, he realised all his efforts were in vain. _Oh, man, I've got to warn the others! Eggman isn't fooling around!_ He ran back to his and Tails' house as fast as he could, probably setting a new land speed record along the way.


	3. Distrust

Tails was just having lunch in the kitchen when a blue blur shot through the door. "AHH! SONIC!", screamed the surprised fox as he was thrown off the chair. The hedgehog came to a screeching halt. "What are you doing?! You nearly killed me!", continued Tails, exasperated.

"Tails! We've got to do something! Eggman is planning to blow up Station Square!", Sonic told him.

"Huh? But we beat him just a few weeks ago!", replied Tails, slowly recovering his balance as he got up from the floor.

"I just happened to spot his base from a hill. When I got there, he saw and told me his entire plan!"

"That sound awfully stupid of him. Are you sure this isn't a trap?", Tails asked.

"Maybe, but listen to this..." Sonic proceeded by explaining Eggman's entire scheme to the fox, who was quite surprised.

"An... antimatter bomb? That's terrible! He could blow up the entire contintent with ease!"

"Yeah. And the problem is that base of his isn't easy to enter. I'm going to gather the others. In the meantime, you make some breaching charges."

"Okay. Hurry up, Sonic!" The hedgehog ran off to find Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow, and Tails went into his large basement workshop to start making the explosives.

.

.

A couple of hours passed and Tails was almost finished with his work when he heard the front door open. It was Sonic who had returned with the aforementioned trio to come up with a plan of attack. It sounded like they were in the middle of a heated discussion. The fox went up the stairs. The voices were now coming from the living room. The door was ajar. As he aproached, he began making out words.

"...there. But what's all this about Tails?" The voice was clearly Sonic's.

_Huh, they're talking about me; it sounds like Sonic isn't very pleased,_ Tails thought as he made his way towards the room. He decided it might be better to eavesdrop on the conversation. After all, he did want to hear what they thought about him. That might not have been the best idea.

"Something bothering you?" The second voice was a bit deeper and raspier - it was Shadow's.

Sonic answered. "Yeah! You said 'Just make sure that fox kid stays out of this.' It sounded like you didn't want him on this mission."

"And that's exactly what I meant," replied Shadow.

Tails was very surprised. _Shadow doesn't want me coming along? Why?_

As if he read his mind, Sonic, visibly irritated, simply asked, "Why?"

"Well, for one, he's just a kid. He doesn't have the necessary experience nor skills for this type of task," Shadow explained.

"What are you talking about? He's helped out dozens of times! He probably has more experience than you do! There really is no reason not to bring him with us," Sonic told him.

Knuckles, sitting on a couch, thought, _Oh, this is gonna be good._

"Be serious, Sonic. Every time he 'helped' you out, you took him along! You were the one helping him. If he were alone, he couldn't do anyhing. Just remember that one time on the Eclipse Cannon: as soon as you weren't babysitting him, he screwed up! He pretty much told Eggman the emerald was fake! I'm not about to risk everything just so some kid could feel good about himself. Maybe you could bring him in once we've cleared the area, just so he could deactivate the bomb." Shadow was being very stubborn and Sonic didn't like him talking about Tails like that.

The fox was still listening. _He's right, _he thought, _I mess up everything! They're better off without me. I'm so stupid! I thought I could actually be useful. I'll have to face the truth sooner or later: I'm just not meant to be a big hero like Sonic is._

Sonic was getting very angry. "This is stupid! Everybody makes mistakes! If I had to pick one of us not to go, I'd pick you! You're nothing but a depressed, obnoxious prick! You couldn't even save Maria!" He knew very well he'd crossed the line, but he didn't care.

"What... did you... say?" Shadow was barely restraining himself. "You blue-"

Knuckles and Rouge had been keeping quiet the whole time. While the echidna found it amusing to see the hotshots battle it out, Rouge decided it was high time she intervened. She interrupted the fight, "Boys, boys! We're here to stop Eggman, not to fight among ourselves! You two should chill out. If I were you, I'd bring the kid along; it couldn't hurt. Now let's sit down and start making our plan."

Sonic and Shadow exchanged ice cold stares. "Fine," Shadow began, "bring the kid along. But I'm warning you, hedgehog... If he should mess up, well... don't say I didn't warn you." They all sat down.

Tails, still standing near the door, was devastated. *sigh* _Well, I guess I should get back to work._ He slowly made his way down into the basement.

.

.

After a few hours, Tails yet again heard the front door close. The guests had left. Sonic came down the stairs. Some items vaguely resembling digital cloks were randomly spread over the workbench. He wanted to tell Tails about how they were going to attack Eggman.

"Hiya, buddy! What'cha doing?" Sonic said in a cheerful tone, but Tails could clearly sense the unease in his voice.

"Nothing," he replied, not taking his eyes off the wrench he'd been fumbling around with for some time.

"Uh... So, are the charges ready?" Sonic asked.

"Yup," the fox said.

"Well... okay... You know, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow and I have come up with a plan. You'll be a recon," continued Sonic, "You'll use the Tornado to scout the area around Eggman's base and provide aerial cover. Oh, and you'll be the one disabling the bomb! Great, huh?"

"Yaay," Tails said quietly and seriously.

Sonic didn't know what else to say. _What's going on? I've never seen him like this before!_ he thought. A few seconds of awkward silence passed. Sonic tried to start a conversation... "So... yeah... uhh... How've you been lately?"

"Fine," replied the fox who seemed more depressed than ever.

...but he decided it might be better to just leave Tails alone; he could tell him everything he needed to know later. _Wow! He's really upset about something, but what could it be?_ Sonic thought as he ran upstairs._ Luckily he didn't hear what Shadow had to say about him._ If only he knew just how wrong he was.


	4. The First Incident

The hedgehog quickly became bored out of his mind. With nothing to do, he decided to run around the house. When that became boring (pretty quickly, by the way) he tried watching TV, but there just wasn't anything good on. _Uggggghhhhh! It's so BORING around here,_ he thought as he turned off the television. Naturally, he was pleasantly surprised when he heard the doorbell ring.

He opened the door to find Vanilla and Cream had apparently decided to come around. "Hello, Sonic! We thought we could come for a visit... If you don't mind," said Vanilla.

"Hi!" he said, "I wasn't expecting you two to show up! Come on in!" And so they did.

The moment they set foot in the house, Cream asked, "Sonic, where's Tails?"

"Well, he's down in the basement, in his workshop, but I-" He stopped mid sentence. _He does seem to like Cream. It might do him some good to see her._

"But you what, Sonic?" Ceam interrupted his thoughts.

The hedgehog replied, "Nothing, nothing. Go right ahead."

Cream merrily jumped down the stairs as the other two went into the living room. "Have a seat, Vanilla," said the hedgehog when they arrived in the nicely decorated room.

"Why thank you, Sonic," she said and sat down on the couch.

"I'll grab us something to eat. I'll be right back," Sonic said - and he was; in the blink of an eye he returned with a plate full of cookies, set it down on the coffe table, and sat down in an armchair opposite Vanilla.

"So, what brings you around?" he asked and reached for a cookie.

"Well, Cream and I went out into the forest for a picnic. When we were going back, we passed your house and Cream insisted we stopped for a visit," Vanilla explained. "I think she wanted to drop by because of Tails. She does seem to like him better than the other boys."

"I guess she does," replied Sonic. By then, he'd become sure that Cream's visit could only do the fox good.

.

.

Tails was still sitting at his desk, thinking about the events that had happened that day. He was both sad and angry. _How could Shadow say all those things about me? I've helped out countless times, and now he gets to boss me around! It's not fair! It's just NOT FAIR!_ _But, I guess he's right. _*sigh*

The session of self-pity, which had been going on for a good hour, was interrupted by a gentle voice coming from behind him, "Hi, Tails!"

The fox immediately recognised the voice and spun around on his chair, surprised. "Cream?!" he exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Mother and I went to the forest. When we were returning home, we went by your house and I managed to persuade Mother that we stopped here for a bit," Cream explained.

"Well, it's nice that you paid us a visit, but this really isn't the best time." He sighed again.

Only now did the young rabbit realise something was wrong with Tails. He wasn't his cheery usual self. It was quite obvious he was feeling down. "Tails... Is something wrong?" she asked softly.

"No, Cream, everything is just splendid. Now could you please leave me alone?" The tone of Tails' voice made it clear this wasn't a request.

It was quite shocking when the otherwise obedient Cream replied with a determined 'no'. "Tell me what's bothering you," she continued.

Though Tails wasn't expecting such a reaction, he remained steadfast. "Seriously, Cream, go away. I really need some time alone. Today hasn't exactly been the best day of my life."

Cream stood her ground as well. "No, Tails, I won't. Tell me what's wrong; it'll make you feel better."

"If you want to make me feel better, GO AWAY!" He was beggining to raise his voice.

"NO! Tell me!" So was Cream; underneath this unusually stubborn exterior she was worried about Tails - she wasn't about to leave him like he was.

"GO! GET OUT OF HERE!" He was pretty much yelling by now.

"NO!"

"GO!"

Upstairs, Sonic and Vanilla were wondering what all the racket was about. The mother rabbit was concerned. "Don't worry, Vanilla, they're just excited to see each other," the hedgehog said.

The reality was very different. Neither Tails nor Cream was very happy. The argument had been at a stalemate ever since the beginning. Tails tried to calm himself down. In a silent, ice-cold voice he said: "Go. Away."

Cream had enough of Tails' stubborness. In her high-pitched voice, she yelled, "NO! YOU WILL TELL ME!"

Tails had it with her. He wanted her to go away, to leave him alone, but she wouldn't. He had to act, and he did. He jumped out of his chair, stood before Cream for a second, and finally slapped her as hard as he could; she stumbled to the ground, struggling to regain her ballance. A long silence ensued. The fox just stood there and so did the rabbit, but very quickly tears stared to run down her face. She began to cry, to scream. Tails didn't have time to say anything as Cream had already made for the stairs. The shocked fox sat back down into the chair, his brain still trying to process what had just happened.

Soon after, a tall figure, followed by a smaller one, slowly stepped down into the basement. It was Vanilla, followed by her daughter. *ahem* "Mister Miles Tails Prower," she began, tapping her foot against the ground, "have you or have you not just hurt my daugter?"

Tails was, for the first time in his life, scared of Vanilla. She'd changed from a kind, tolerant mother to an angry and strict - but mostly angry - lady who does not know mercy.

"Uh... well... umm... y-y-yeah?" Tails began, very, very carefully. "B-but Vanilla-"

"No buts! And it's Mrs Rabbit to you!" said the angry mother. "How dare you lay a hand on my daughter?! She's told me about everything that happened! She only wanted to help, and this is how you repay her?! You should be ashamed, young man!"

The fox didn't know what to say. He was guilty, he'd slapped Cream and there was nothing he could do about it now. "I... I'm sorry! I'm so SORRY! I don't know what came over me! I just-I was just sitting there, a-and I-I... I'm sorry, Vanilla!" He was almost crying.

The mother rabbit saw that he was truly sorry for what he'd done and her heart thawed. "There, there, it's alright. It could've happened to anybody. Sometimes you just have a bad day. What's important is to learn from your mistakes. I forgive you, and so does Cream, isn't that so?" She looked at her daughter.

"I forgive you, Tails," Cream told him. "And I'm sorry that I was so stubborn."

"I'm sorry too, Cream. I didn't mean to do it," replied Tails.

"Just don't do it again," Vanilla said in a commanding manner. "Anyway, I think it's time the two of us went." They all went upstairs and said goodbye.

After Cream and Vanilla left, Sonic approached Tails. "Hey... What's all this with Cream? Did you really... slap her?" He seemed unnerved.

"I don't want to talk about it. It happened, alright? We've sorted it out," said the fox, still confused by what he'd done.

"Well... You know what they say - all's well that ends well, right?" Sonic said, trying to be as cheerful as possible under the circumstances. "Anyway, I've still got to tell you the plan right? So, here it is..." After half an hour, the hedgehog had explained everything and both of them went to bed.


	5. Complications

It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining bright, the birds were chripping, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. The entire gang was at a small runway just outside the city where Tails kept the Tornado. Since he was the recon, he was going to go first and scout Eggman's base and the area around it from a distance while the others waited for him to return. He and Sonic were in the hangar, doing a last-minute check if the plane was working properly. The other three - Shadow, Rouge, and Knuckles - were about a hundred yards away, leaning on the fence and conversing about the assignement.

"...cool with me." Rouge was talking. "But it's a real bummer there isn't any stealthy approach. I'd love to crawl through a cave and strike Eggman from below."

Shadow spoke, "So there really isn't any silent way in? Damn. Are you sure?"

"Don't ask me," she replied. "I spent yesterday getting ready. I asked the Chaotix to look into it. They said there is ab-so-lu-tley no way in form below."

"We could try at night," suggested Knuckles.

"No, we're already here. I say we give it a shot - screw the silent approach!" Rouge told him.

"What worries me more is that kid," Shadow began.

"Who, Tails?" asked Knuckles.

"Yeah. I'm telling you, this is a bad idea," the hedgehog continued.

"Oh, come on, Shadow!" Rouge said. "I don't know why you're suddenly so worried. He's only flying recon and providing some support; it's not like he can doom the entire operation."

"But still..." He looked at the hangar, his eyes glimmering with worry.

.

.

"Okay, Tails, we've checked and double-checked everything. You're good to go." Sonic decided he'd do a quick summary of the plan one last time. "Remember, scout the area for anything unusual - aside form the giant black egg sticking out of the middle of the forest, of course. Stay at a distance - you can't let Eggman spot you. Once you're done, return here and we'll head for the base. We're going to use those charges to blow a hole in the hull. Shadow and I are going to distract the turrets while Rouge and Knuckles go in to disable the security system. Finally, you're going to come in and defuse the bomb."

"Yeah, yeah, I've got it," replied Tails as he went to sit in the plane. _Every idiot could figure out all you have to do is yank out the gems._

_He STILL seems worried... Maybe I should say something..._ "Hey, Tails, is there something you want to... talk about?" Sonic asked.

"What? No! Where'd you get that idea from?!" The fox looked pretty upset about Sonic asking him this. He started scratching the back of his hand nervously.

"Okay, okay! Geez! I was only asking..." The hedgehog was surprised at Tails' reaction. "Well, good luck."

Tails fired up the engine and took off without even saying 'bye'.

.

.

He barely got up into the air and already he could see the large oval monstrosity. He started thinking about the events of the past two days. He could barely believe so much had taken place in such a short time. _Great. I'm a recon. I'm going to fly around Eggman's base and report back. Whopee. It's not like they need me. /sarcasm I'm sure I'l be able to provide lots and lots of useful information just by flying past that thing._ _sarcasm They only gave me this task so I could feel good about myself. Ugh! This is stupid! I'm perfectly capable of helping the team, but they pretty much kicked me out!_

He'd been flying for several minutes. He got so immersed in his thoughts he didn't watch where his bearing. Suddenly, a voice came over the radio: "Tails!" It was Shadow. There was no response - the fox didn't even notice him, even though he was wearing a headset. "TAILS!" Shadow yelled into the microphone.

Tails flinched. "Wha-huh? Who... Shadow, is that you?"

"YES, IT'S ME! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?" the hedgehog shouted.

"What..." Tails looked around. He was shocked by what he saw. Eggman's base was but half a mile away. "Oh no!" He was too close - the doctor could spot him any second.

Meanwhile, inside the fortress, a small red light started beeping on the huge control pannel in front of Eggman's chair. "What's this? It seems we have an intruder!" He brought the camera feeds up on his display. On one of them, a small biplane with a yellow fox sitting inside it was clearly visible. "It seems Tails has decided to pay us a visit. Why don't we send him a... welcome present." He pressed one of the numerous buttons on the pannel. A hatch on the outside of the base opened and several small projectiles shot out towards the plane.

Tails did a U-turn, but it was too late. He saw the missiles going straight for him. "Shadow, Eggman's spotted me! He's fired rockets at me!"

"Evade them and get out of there already!" replied Shadow.

"I can't shake them! I think they're homing! One's coming from the lef-" A loud bang could be heard through the speakers at the airfield.

"TAILS!" Shadow yelled, but it was too late.

Inside the base, Eggman was gloating. "Hahaha! A direct hit! That sucker's done for." Half of the plane was missing and it was spinning violently towards the ground. The flight ended with an explosion and some smoldering bent metal in a crater.

Sonic, who'd been listening in horror, decided it was time to take action. _Tails might still be alive... He MUST be alive!_ "Come on, Shad!" They both ran off to the base while Knuckles and Rouge desperately tried to keep up.

.

.

The crash site was a horrible sight. It was clear no-one could have survived. Sonic fell to his knees, tears starting to race down his cheeks. Much to his surprise, he heard a familiar voice above him, in the treetops, "Sonic! Get me down from here!"

The hedgehog looked up, confused. "Wha... Tails?!" He saw the fox dangling high above, his parachute tangled in the branches and leaves.

"You okay?" asked Shadow.

"Yeah! I managed to eject, but I got stuck up here!" Sonic ran up the tree trunk; in a moment's notice, the fox was standing firmly on the ground.

"I'm so happy you're okay!" Sonic said, still crying, but the tears were now of joy.

Shadow, seeing that Tails was alright, immediatley switched back to his usual attitude, and he was very, very angry. "You IDIOT! You INCOMPETENT IMBECILE! Do you realise what you've done?!"

Tails was caugh completely off guard. "I-I... uhh... I-"

"You've single-handedly ruined the mission! The world's at stake, kid! Get your shit together already!" Shadow was about to explode with insults.

Sonic jumped in, "Woah, Shadow, calm down! We still have plenty of time! And-" A silent buzzing sound came from the distance, and slowly got stronger. "What's that?"

A squadron of Eggman's robots appeared in the sky. They stopped for a brief moment to evaluate the sittuation. Suddenly, they went into a dive towards the trio, releasing a myriad of cluster bombs. "Shadow, get Tails out of here! I'll stall those rustbuckets!"

"You sure?" asked the black hedgehog, looking at Tails with the corner of his eye.

"Just GO!" Sonic yet again ran up a tree and propelled himself into the group of tin cans while Shadow grabbed Tails and dragged him away. A couple of robots fell down immediately, but the bombs were still falling. Even Sonic couldn't avoid them all, and one of them hit him. It hit hard; the hedgehog was blown to the scorched earth below. _Damn! There's too many! I've got to get out of here!_ He jumped back to his feet, burnt and bruised, and narrowly avoided the next barrage.

Shadow stopped after about a mile. "Right, this is as far as I'll take you."

"But... This is in the middle of the forest!" Tails said.

Shadow had calmed down, but he still found talking to the fox unbearable. "I don't have time for your little problems; you've caused enough for the rest of us today. I've taken you further than you deserve." He was gone in the blink of an eye.

*sigh* _How will I ever find my way home? I guess I could fly..._ With those thoughts, Tails started spinning his, yes, tails, and slowly rose off the ground, disheartened and sad.


	6. The Second Incident

It was the middle of the afternoon when the fox arrived at the front door of his house. He entered, checked to see if anyone was home, and, when he didn't find anyone, went down to his workshop. He wanted to be left alone. As he was contemplating on the day's events, he heard footsteps on the stairs. Amy Rose, Sonic's wannabe girlfriend, walked into the workshop.

"Hello there, Tails. Sonic isn't home right now. He's gone out for a run."

"Oh, hi, Amy. I didn't know you were here." Tails was surprised to see her, especially down in his workshop. She never was too keen on technology.

"Soooo... How went the mission?" Her voice was ice-cold, and she was completely calm.

"Uhhh... Not too well..." Tails replied, worried because of her strange behaviour. _Has Sonic told her about what happened?_

She cut into his thoughts, "Not too well, you say. Hmm... I happen to have heard differently - that it was a complete disaster."

Tails tried to explain, "Amy, I might hav-"

"Shush! I also saw Sonic. He was really beat up. And to top it all off, you caused it all. Now, I only have one question remaining - WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" Her ice cold, calm voice was replaced by straight out yelling. "You only had one task, ONE! And you went and SCREWED IT ALL UP! You know, Sonic and you have been friends for years, and this is how you repay him? Did you even stop to think how this could affect others? ME?"

She went on and on about how stupid, incompetent and disloyal he was. Tails began admiring a wrench on the table. He didn't want to listen to Amy, but he couldn't reason with her either. The cold, silver metal was more appealing than ever. Thoughts - dark thoughts - ran throught his head.

Amy was still scolding him, "He's always been there for you, and then you just leave him to DIE!"

That was the last straw for Tails. In a wave of emotions, he grabbed the tool and proceeded to hit Amy on the jaw, fatster than she could react. As steel met bone, the latter broke instantly with a sickening *crack*. Amy fell to the floor, trying to scream, but she only produced a sort of gargling sound. She looked at Tails with her big green eyes, pain soaring through her like a river.

"STOP IT!" Tails yelled. He'd completely lost it. "STOP SHOUTING AT ME!" He hit Amy on the forehead. She was knocked down on her back. "I've always..." *whack* "tried to..." *whack* "help Sonic!" *whack* "You've only chased after him..." *whack* "like a dirty..." *whack* "a dirty... *whack* GAAAH" *whack* The last blow shattered the pink hedgehog's skull into a million tiny little pieces. The wrench sunk deep into her brain. The fox yanked it out along with a portion of Amy's head. The tool was covered in blood, bone fragments, and brain matter; a large pool of red liquid had formed on the floor around the two. She lay unmoving, unblinking, her dead stare looking out into the distance.

.

.

Tails stood there for a moment, recovering from the massive rush of adrenaline, but soon came the horrific realisation of what he'd done. "Oh no... No, no, no, no, no... Amy... Amy, speak to me! Amy..." He dropped the wrench and fell to his knees. "Amy, come on, talk to me! Please, please! Please be alright! Come on, speak to me!" He felt her head with a trembling hand. His entire fist could fit comfortably in the massive, blood-gushing hole. The top of the head was mush. He knew she'd died after the first couple of strikes, but he didn't want to accept this as the truth. Sadly, he didn't have any other option.

Tails dragged himself to a nearby corner and pulled his legs to his body. He was crying._ What've I done? Oh god... I've killed Amy! I can't believe this is happening! How, how..._ He sat there for another half hour. At last, he slowly got up. Thoughts were racing through his mind. He - Miles 'Tails' Prower - was a murderer. He let out a deep, long sigh which gave away he was still barely holding back tears, but he knew what he had to do. He gazed at a large oven in the back of the room which he used for metallurgy, and a shelf with various industrial-grade cleaning products.

After about a minute, the body was in the large machine. Tails looked at Amy one last time and slowly closed the huge hatch, muttering, "I'm so, so sorry." He held back another wave of tears, set the knob to MAX (5000 K), and flipped a large red switch. Heat started emanating from the rumbling machine. A small light turned on, indicating that the set temperature had been reached. Tails shut it off, waited for it to cool, and opened it. There was nothing inside but a small pile of ashes.

Now, Tails got to cleaning the blood. The disgust was starting to fade. Just as he was finishing up, he heard the front door open, and, in an instant, Sonic was standing at the foot of the stairs. "Hey, buddy, what's up?" he exclaimed in an overly-cheerful, almost fake voice. He was quite beaten up, his fur charred in several places.

"Sonic! Are you alright?" Tails asked, not so much beacause he was worried about his friend, but because it was polite.

"Meh, I'll be fine. *kof* But... are you cleaning? What happened?"

The fox stammered to find an explanation, "I... I was making a new plane engine and I... spilt oil everywhere."

"Listen, Tails..." Sonic suddenly said in a serious voice, "Yesterday, you heard what Shadow said about you, right?"

Tails didn't know whether to be honest or to try to evade the question. In the end, he went with the former. *sigh* "Yes, I did."

"Hey, cheer up! Shadow can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that! You're very important! Without you, who'd provide all the technical data, the insanely cool mechs, the mechanical expertise? What happened today... I don't want to lie to you, I guess you did sorta mess up, but that's nothing to beat yourself up about! The next time, it'll go better, I'm sure it will... Anyway, have you seen Amy? We were supposed to go to the movies tonight, but I can't find her anywhere!"

The question was like a hot needle. Tails got up, thanked the hedgehog for the morale boost, not that it had any effect, said that Amy went out for a walk, skipped dinner, and silently went to bed.


	7. What a Night

That night was not an easy one for the fox. The events of the day remained imprinted in his memory. Dreams - nightmares - plagued him as he tried desperatly to escape the immense feeling of guilt, intertwined with something else... Something he couldn't quite put his finger on... Something that was keeping him going.

He was at the crash site, but everything was frozen in time. Slowly, reality started crumbling away, leaving nothing but an infinite black void all around with himself standing on a small patch of light. Much to his surprise, someone stepped out of the darkness.

It was Amy, perfectly fine and seemingly happy. Suddenly, her forehead imploded and spouted blood in every direction. "You killed me," she said. Then, another Amy appeared next to her, and then another one, and then another. They formed a circle around the scared fox and started murmuring, unitelligible sounds slowly morphing into words as they grew louder and louder. "Killer, killer, killer, KILLER, KILLER, KILLER!"

The voices were overwhelming and Tails collapsed to the ground, trying as hard as he could to block them out, but all was in vain. Just as his head was going to explode from the incessant chanting of the apparitions, silence came, sweet as never before. The fox was trembling, tremors shaking his small body. He mustered up the strength to stand and did so. When he opened his eyes, though, he wasn't where he was expecting to be.

Four drab concrete walls surrounded him - there was no door, one small, dim light on the ceiling, and what seemed to be a mirror that adorned the flat grey surface. Tails slowly approached it. It was completely flat, fused with the concrete, and spotless. The image was perfect aside for one thing - Tails' reflection wasn't moving.

_What is going on here? _he thought to himself. Unsure of what to do, he touched the smooth cold surface.

Suddenly, the reflection looked straight into Tails' eyes. "Hello," it said, the voice coming from somewhere beyond the wall.

The fox jumped back in shock, but his image remained calm. "W-what are you?"

"Well..." began the reflection, "I am you. A figment of your imagination, to be precise. This is all a dream, if you haven't figured it out yet."

"What? A... dream?"

"Exactly. Well, now we've gotten that detail out of the way as well," the reflection comtinued. "What's more important is why you are here... Your actions."

"My actions... Amy!" The fox was distressed as the partially clouded memories came back with full force.

"Yes. Amy. The inoccent girl you killed not six hours ago. She was only worried about Sonic. It's natural for someone in her position to be angry. You know that now - and you knew then. The reason you did it was not because you felt angry at her - it was because she gave you an excuse."

Those words were like a cold shower for Tails. "Are you saying that I did it because... because I... wanted to?"

The answer was simple. "Yes."

"Wha... ARE YOU CRAZY?!" the fox yelled, furious at the image in the mirror.

In reply it said, "Well, since YOU are, that makes me insane by default. I'm you, remember? Anything I say, you know. Anything you are, I am. The only difference is that I don't lie to myself - to you."

"I DIDN'T DO IT BECAUSE I WANTED TO!" Tails was still outraged.

"Go on, decieve yourself! Deep down, you know I'm right! Come on, tell me I'm not! Will you? CAN you? Why run away from what you are? The cold, hard truth is that you liked every moment of it!" The reflection was not the least moved by Tails' emotions.

"But I... I didn't want to..." The fox was devastated. He knew that there was truth in the words of his doppelganger. He knew he could have stopped himself from picking up that wrench - he knew he could have let Amy live - but he wanted to do it. He knew he felt sick pleasure as he drove the tool into the soft tissue, but he wouldn't admit it to himself. Now, though, when the facts had been thrown in his face, he really couldn't do anything else. He couldn't fool himself. His head dropped, his eyes closed, a tear ran down his face.

It seemed the reflection sensed this, but it remained emotionless. "Look at you. You're crying in fear of yourself, of what you might do. Stop. Stop torturing yourself. This is who you are. If you're a shadow, embrace the darkness, don't resist it..."

The fox did stop crying. He looked up and opened his eyes - they were dark and distant. The reflection stepped out of the mirror, if a mirror it was, and gave Tails his hand. He slowly stood up. "Go on, and let them see..."

Tails' mouth formed a small grin as he completed the thing's sentence, "...the darkest side of me."

He was thrown back into reality. His bedsheets were drenched in sweat. He took a minute to collect his mind. _I need to get out of here, _he thought. Using an intricate system of hidden switches, he opened a safe under his night table and took out his and Sonic's chaos emerald. _These should come in handy._ He climbed out the window and ran off into the woods.


	8. Strange Occurences

The next day. The sun rose, and with it Sonic. He went down for breakfast and noticed Tails was absent. He usually got up very early. The hedgehog shrugged this of, thinking that his friend must be tired. He went out for a morning run, but upon returning an hour later, the fox was still nowhere to be seen. He went up to Tails' room, only to find the window had been opened and the safe under the night table emptied. The sight made him think. He tried to phone Amy - no answer. One single thought ran through his mind. _Eggman!_

Thirty minutes later at the edge of the forest a small group assembled - Shadow, Rouge and Knuckles. They were waiting for the last person and the one who called them. Sonic appeared out of nowhere as a blue blur. He came to a screeching halt.

"Hi, everybody, I'm glad you made-" Sonic began but was interrupted by Shadow.

"Cut to the chase. We were supposed to be taking another shot at Eggman today, you know!" the irritated black hedgehog said.

"Well, that's just why I'm here," Sonic told him. "We can't."

"Huh? Why not?" the other three asked simultaneously.

"Because he's got Tails, and most likely Amy, too," the hedgehog replied.

"What? And just how did you come to THAT conclusion?" Shadow inquired.

"Well, Tails is gone, his room was ransacked and the two chaos emeralds stolen, and I've been trying to find Amy all morning, but she's disappeared as well. This has Eggman written all over it. If we attack him, who knows what he'll do to them!" Sonic was visibly very concerned.

*sigh* "What do you guys think?" Shadow asked the remaining two.

"Hey, we can't risk their lives!" Knuckles said.

"I agree with mister anteater over here," added Rouge.

"Hey! Who're you calling an anteater?"

"Come on, guys, stop it! I say we go see what Eggman wants," suggested Sonic.

.

.

When they arrived at his base, the group stepped out into the open waving a makeshift white flag. For some time, there was only silence. Then, slowly, a small hatch started to open at the top of the 'egg'. The all-too-familliar pod floated out, went into a rapid descent, and stopped about ten feet off the ground.

"Hello, everybody!" said Eggman, grinning slightly. "You're lucky. If I weren't feeling particularly generous today, you'd be nothing but a smoledering pile of goop right now. Anyway, what do you want?"

"Oh, I think you know. Give us back Tails and Amy!" Sonic shouted, trying to keep himself from jumping onto that pod and giving the doctor the much-needed knuckle sandwich.

Eggman paused for a moment, surprised. "Tails and Amy? Whatever could I be doing with those two furballs?"

"Listen, Eggman, what do you want for them?" asked Shadow.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I don't have your friends! I'm doing so well, I don't know why I'd risk kidnapping anyone, much less those two clowns. And do you think that if I did have them, I'd be keeping it a secret? Think, boy, think!"

"If not you, who else?" Sonic found himself believing Eggman's words more and more. He knew full well all they had to do is take out the emeralds - they gave Tails the job to boost his morale. And as for Amy, Eggman really didn't have a use for her except as a hostage, but why keep hostages a secret? It didn't add up.

"I don't have a clue, and, more importantly, I don't care. I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but it isn't going to work! You've got eight days left, hedgehog, eight days. Tick-tock, tick-tock." With those words, he flew back into the base. The cannons fired a salvo at them, but they managed to take cover in the foilage and escape.

After regrouping at the forest's edge, everyone was confused. "I-I think I actually believe him!" said Sonic. He knew the doctor didn't need to risk taking them hostage.

Knuckles raised his voice, "Are you stupid? He's obviously messing with us!"

"Just look at the facts," replied the blue hedgehog, "He doesn't need to trouble himself with kidnapping anyone, at least for now! We haven't even put a dent in his hull, and that only makes him more arrogant!"

The echidna was unsure of what to think. "But still..."

"Listen, you've got to trust me here! I know Eggs is a liar, but I also know when he's being honest! I wouldn't say this if I weren't sure. Anyway, thanks for coming along. I don't know where those two are, but I have to find them! I guess we could take another shot at Eggman tomorrow." He felt blue; after everything that'd happened, the disappearance of his friends was not something he needed. The group slowly departed back to town.

.

.

That evening a figure snuck into Vanilla and Cream's house. A drop of strong acid put into the lock melted it like magic and the main door swung wide open. Everybody was fast asleep.

The person first went to Vanilla's room. Out of a small bag they pulled a plastic bottle with a sticker on it that said 'CHLOROFORM' and a piece of cotton cloth. The figure unscrewed the cap and put a few drops of the liquid onto it, and then held it against Vanilla's face for a couple of seconds. Afterwards, they went to Cream's room and did the same to her and Cheese.

After about two hours, no one was left in the house.

.

.

Cream woke up on cold concrete. It was still the middle of the night, though she had no way of knowing this. She was dizzy, but managed to clear up her head. Her mom was opposite her, still asleep. She looked around the area and realised she was in a middle-sized room with a metal door. Some old lights on the ceiling gave away a faint glow, flickering on and off. The place was very creepy. There was a hospital bed in the corner, along with a bunch of surgical equipment spread around on a table that didn't do much to make the space feel nicer. What was much more disturbing, though, is that she and her mother were chained to the wall.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps outside the door, which but a moment later squeaked as it slowly opened. Strong light poured into the room from what was most likely a hallway. Cream's eyes widened. In the doorway stood a silhouette - a silhouette with two tails.


	9. Tensions Rise

"TAILS?!" Cream yelled in surprise. Vanilla was just waking up.

"Yes, very good observation," he replied.

Vanilla fully regained consciousness. "What's going on? Where are we?"

"Hi, Vanilla! Glad you could join us," said Tails with a small smirk on his face. He could see Cream trembling. She was afraid - he could almost smell it. "You are in an old underground buker in the middle of the forest. Who built it? Why? Beats me, but it's old. Real old. I found it in the morning. The entrance is almost completely covered with undergrowth; it was only by a stroke of pure luck that I found it. Luckily, the lights still work - they have some sort of backup generator. There's also a pump that sucks water from a nearby cave system, and to top it all of, they have some sort of food preserver. Supposed to nullify the expiration dates. There's enough to eat to last me a lifetime!"

Vanilla raised her voice. "Young man, what kind of perverted joke is this? Let us go this instant!" She was angry, but also very frightened, even more so because there was a patch of red on one of his gloves.

"Let you go? I must've spent, what, three hours hauling you over here. If I'd been planning to let you go, I wouldn't have done that. You're my prisoners now, and I get to preform all sorts of interesting experiments with you... or should I say 'on' you. Isn't that great?" He took a step forward.

Cream was inching away from Tails, as far as her chains would allow. "But- but- Wait... Where's Cheese?"

"Yes, it is a little dark in here, isn't it?" He walked over to a knob on the wall. As he turned it, the lights grew stronger, and the far corner of the room, where no light had been able to reach, became illuminated, unraveling a most morbid sight.

"CHEESE!" Cream jumped toward the chao, her chains stopping her inches away, while Vanilla looked away in disgust. The poor creature was lying in the corner, in a pool of blood. His wings were missing, torn away. Along his chest ran a long incision.

"I did need some practise before I moved on to the bigger stuff - your mom, to be precise." He walked over to a small cabinet and took out a razor. "Look at this - I'll bet you twenty bucks it's just as good at removing skin as it is at removing hairs." He went to Vanilla and tightened her chains so much she had trouble breathing. Then, he slowly approached her with the blade.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she yelled.

"Stop it! Leave her alone!" Cream was crying. Her voice was full of desperation.

"God, you two are unbearable!" He took the blade and made a small cut on his forearm. "Hmm... Razor sharp, heh heh..." He licked his wound and put the razor against Vanilla's face. He pulled down and a small piece of skin fell off.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Vanilla screamed. She shook and shook, trying to slide free, but the restraints were just too thick. She felt burning pain on her cheeck, the likes of which she had never experienced.

"NOOOOO!" The young girl collapsed to her knees. She couldn't bear to watch her mom go through this. She covered her ears, but she couldn't block out the sounds... the screams...

Tails continued the procedure, savouring every moment. _This... This is insane... Twisted... _Another piece of skin fell off. _Cheese... I sliced him up... But this... I'm... The fuck is wrong with me? I'm peeling off Vanilla's damn face... I'm PEELING it off... But... I love it! The blood, the pain, the torment, it makes me feel... alive! I'm a sick bastard, aren't I? But why stop? WHY STOP?! After all, I only want to play... _"Hehehehehehehehehe..." The dull halls, long-forgotten by time itself, now resonated with maniacal laughter... and the anguished cries of a child and her mother.

.

.

"When will you get it in that thick head? Damnit, Sonic, don't be so stubborn!" Knuckles was losing his temper. For the last half hour they'd been there, the hedgehog persistently refused to believe that it couldn't have been anyone else but Eggman. "Just think a bit - the police get a call from some guy out on a walk that Cream's house has been broken into. We get here just as the cops've found traces of chlor... chlorf... c-"

"It's chloroform, Knuckles," Sonic said. "And I just don't think the doc did this... I mean, the melted lock, nothing missing or destroyed - it just doesn't feel like him."

"Oh, it doesn't 'feel' like him, huh? Well guess what - our friend's lives are on the line here, and if you don't help, the rest of us are gonna do it alone!" That was it. The echidna had it with the fastest thing alive, who was acting like he was a bit slow. He turned around and was about to walk away, and all the while Shadow was glancing at Sonic with an expression of despisal.

The hedgehog finally caved in to pressure. *sigh* "Okay, okay, I'll come along... under one condition - we don't just try to take him head-on like we did last time."

Knuckles immediately spun around, as if he were hoping for such a reaction. "Sooo, we just politely ask him to let us in, right? Maybe he could bake us some cookies while he's at it!"

In that moment Rouge, admiring a chaos emerald, landed on the small meadow surrounding the house with some news that would settle the dispute. "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late, but I went to that spelunking club, the, uhh, Moles or something. I picked up a map of the caves around here."

"Looking for a new appartment, huh?" said Shadow with a smirk on his face.

"Ha ha, very funny. Now, if you'd let me finish - remember how I said the Chaotix told me that there was ab-so-lu-tely no other way in?" All the guys snapped to attention. "Well, as it turns out, those three couldn't find water in the middle of the ocean. Look!" She rolled the map open. It had two parts - one showed the surface and one the underground systems. There was a big red cross on the upper right of both the halves. "See that? That's where Eggman's base is. And as you can see..." She dragged her finger across the paper, showing a path through the caves. "...there's a huge hall directly underneath the doc's place. That's where he built that fortress, but he's also provided us with the perfect way in."

"So, where's the entrance to this cave of yours?" Shadow asked with a tone of unceirtanty.

"About half a mile north-east from here," Rouge replied.

Sonic interrupted the conversation. "Wait a minute! That's... Foot gorge, right? It made the headlines a couple of years ago - some kids got lost while exploring a crevace. They were found two weeks later, half-starved. They said they found a metal door down there, but they couldn't get it open. Of course, the door was never found. In their state they were in, I'm surprised they didn't start seeing gnomes."

"Wow, fascinating! Incredible! Now, if you don't mind, let's stop with the campfire stories, and get to work." Shadow wanted it all to be over that same day. "Rouge, lead the way!"

She tilted her head, one eyebrow higher than the other. "Ohhhh, no! You dweebs don't think you can come along, right? I've got the route all figured out, I even have the tools I'll use to cut throught the hull! Those charges are just too loud. Anyway, I will NOT be chasing you around 'cause you got lost."

"But listen, Rouge..." Knuckles began, trying to reason, but the other two jumped in, and it soon turned to rambling and complaining about how unfair she was being. The bat was getting fed up with them.

"Shut up!" They all did. "Now, boys, be good and listen to mommy, beacuse she doesn't want you wandering off down there and bumping your head. You just head over to good old uncle Ivo's place and wait there for me to open the door. Okay? Okay!" She flew off before anyone could say another word.


	10. Infiltration

In the dark, dank tunnels, in a small uncharted part of the system, a large metal door was unsealed. An inscription, designed specifically to scare away any and all lost explorers unlucky enough to reach this damned place, was engraved into the cold steel:

_"Through me you go to the grief wracked halls; Through me you go to everlasting pain; _

_Through me you go a pass among lost souls. Abandon all hope — Ye Who Enter Here"_

The gate opened with an unsettling creak, as if announcing the arrival of evil. In a sense, it was - a yellow fox, equipped with ropes, a torch, and other interesting equipment, stepped out, with intentions most fiendish running through his fur-covered head. The hallway behind the door lead into the secret bunker where he'd made his accomodations. He'd studdied the plans of the surrounding area - a facility with an emergency escape through the caverns does need such documents, after all - pinpointed Eggman's location, and set up a path through the underground.

He was in the middle of a thougt, _...and I have to make sure myself. I don't know what Sonic and his gang are up to, but I can't take any risks. After all, if no-one stops him, that fat jerk'll blow me and my... means of entertainment sky high. Plus, I'll get payback for all the times he's been mean to me._ He was trekking through the caves, flashlight in hand, but unbeknownst to him, another person was making their way towards the very same destination. And this very person would beat him to his goal, unintentionally making his entry much easier than previously expected, while at the same time making themselves a prime target for the deranged fox.

.

.

While all this was transpiring below, above on the surface a colourful trio was strolling to the large fortress. The three guys had no option but to obey Rouge and wait for her there. Shadow was leading while Knuckles and Sonic were conversing behind him.

"Man, I can't believe she ditched us like that!" said Knuckles.

"Well, what can you do?" replied Sonic.

"Seriously, sometimes I feel like we dudes are just slaves!" the echidna continued.

"Yeah, but you should know that women can feel that way too," the hedgehog told him.

Shadow was, as always, irritated. "You two are charming with your deep insights into modern-day slavery, but could you stay focused on the task at hand?"

"Oh, come on, Shad, loosen up!" said Sonic merrily. "Listen, between you and me, you like Rouge, don't you?"

Shadow thought for a while before answering. "Well, she does have certain... feminine quailities."

Knuckles was not too pleased to hear this. "Hey, keep off my turf, okay?!"

"Oh, so she's 'your turf' now, is she?" Shadow asked him with just a pinch of ridicule. "What, are you threatened by me?"

"Phhht, you wish! When I show her these rock hard abs she won't be able to resist!" the echidna praised himself.

"Hah! Your abs pale in comparison to me, the ULTIMATE lifeform!" the black hedgehog sneered back at him.

Sonic jumped into the argument, "Yeah, Knux, watch out! That mature, raspy voice and mysterious attitude are a real chick magnet!"

"Hey, blue britches, it's not like you're any better than me!" the echidna growled back.

"Let's agree to disagree," the hedgehog said. "But anyway, I have Amy. Sure, she might be a bit annoying and, well, creepy at times, but hey, I enjoy her company, and we always have a blast when we're together. I think I want us to become something more!"

"That's cute, but first we need to find her," Shadow reminded him. "And wasn't it YOU who said Eggman didn't have her? If you're right, even after this goes down, it won't be over."

_Shadow is right, _Sonic thought. _I don't know where she is, and I don't know where Tails is, for that matter, and the same goes for Cheese and Vanilla. Not where we're headed, that's for sure. _ He looked at the big base they were approaching. _What if... there really is someone else? But who, who? Oh, Amy, where are you?_ Little did he know the answer was blowing in the wind... as ashes, to be exact.

.

.

Tails arrived at the underbelly of the massive constuction. Three huge pillars held it aloft. It was a magnificent sight: an entire city suspended in the air, the rough extrerior presenting quite an obstacle for any intruder. The sky was visible from below through the small gap between the egg and the earth, as was the bridge, that from such a distance seemed like a toothpick even the slightest breeze would move.

The fox noticed several broken tool scattered about, as if they had been thrown from a great height, as well as a bent piece of metal. _What's all this, then? Has someone been through here before?_ He looked at the hull, trying hard to notice even the slightest oddities. _Aha!_ He spotted what looked like a hole. _Well thank you, whoever you are!_ He left the heavier equipment behind, taking only a satchel as he flew towards the opening.

The inside was in stark contrast to the warm summer day - cold and gray. The only sounds were those of the many liquids running through large pipes, and the footsteps on the silver metal; they further reinforced the sense of aloneness and despair that seemed to be the only product of the dim corridors. Tails was hurrying through the endless maze, trying to find whoever it was that was in there with him, listening for every noise, every faint echo, and despite the slim chances of him ever succeding, he did. Now, with every two steps he took, he could just make out one that was not his own not far ahead, and before long, a figure appeared from the shadows.

The person was apparently too wraped up in their own thoughts to hear the approaching fox. There was one distinct feature that stood out: they had a pair of webbed wings.

"Rouge?"

She spun around in shock. It took her a second or two to figure out who it was that was standing there. "T-Tails?" She ran up to him and gave him a quick hug - something quite unusual for the master thief and part-time government agent. "You scared the crap out of me! What are you doing here?!"

The fox decided to make a play for time. Lucky for him, Rouge couldn't notice the... oddities about him in the twilight of the corridor, not that she was looking very hard. "I could ask you the same! Don't you know how dangerous it is here? How'd you get in, anyway?"

"There's a path through the caves. Really, the doc should've done a better job securing the interior. There aren't even any cameras. But that's beyond the point. YOU're here, so it's true! Eggman did kidnap you!" The bat had it all figured out. Or so she thought.

_Interesting. They doubted that possibility._ "What, wasn't it obvious?" he asked.

"It should've been," she answered, "but Sonic said that it was someone else. Stupid, if you ask me. But again, that's not what matters! You've escaped all on your own! By the way, how'd you do that? And what's that bag?"

"Oh, yeah, I escaped my... cell... because..." He stammered to find an answer. "...one of the, uh, construction robots apparently did a, uh, a bad job of fitting the, uh, wall panels. So I managed to pry one open, and, well, escape. As far as the bag goes, I, uh, ran across a workshop-type area and took a few tools to... help me get out!" _Wow. That was real smooth, Tails. Good going, you dumbass._

The fact that there was something wrong should have been clearly discernable, but Rouge was so excited about finding him that she didn't even notice. "Good job! But, aren't the others with you?"

"The others?" the fox inquired.

"Yeah, Cream, Amy and Vanilla! They were taken by Eggman too!"

Tails barely stopped his lips stretching into a smile on his ostensibly worried face. _Perfect. No-one suspects a thing... yet. Though I have a feeling that'll soon change, heh heh. After all, what happens when the kidnapper gets kidnapped?_ "What? Are you serious? I didn't see anyone else in here but you! But, then again, this is a huge place. They must still be in here, in another sector!"

"Well let's get going, then! We don't have a minute to waste!" She told him she'd hacked a terminal a while back, downloaded a floor plan and disabled the core's security, and held up a small PDA with what looked like a map.

Tails stopped her, "Wait! You still haven't told me what exactly your plan is."

"We don't have time, kid!" she retorted.

The fox was persistent - he had to find out where the others were. "Well I can't help you if you don't tell me exactly what it is you're up to."

*sigh* "Look, I'm supposed to open the main doors so the others can get in. They should be waiting in the forest on the edge of the clearing. Then, we're going to find the rest of the prisoners and sabotage the facility. That's it. Happy? Now follow me! We're almost there!" She spun around and started walking.

_Almost there, huh? No defences? Then I guess I could... _This time, a grin did form on Tails' face. _Yes, that'd be perfect._ He reached into the satchel and pulled out a pistol-like device. There was a single needle sticking out at the front. He aimed carefully, knowing he'd only have one chance. "Hey, Rouge!" She turned just as he squeezed the trigger. A dart flew through the air and jabbed itself into her shoulder. "Nighty night."

"Ahh!" It was only a pinch. She pulled it out. "WHAT THE HELL, TAILS?" Only now did she notice a gel-like substance smeared on the tip. She started getting dizzy, the world was contorting and losing colour. "Wh-what was... that?" She fell to her knees., barely keeping conscious.

"Oh, it's just a sedative. It'll subdue you for a few hours, giving me enough time for my own businsess. Then, we'll play a game. A fun, fun game. You'll like it, you'll see." She couldn't hold out any longer and finally fainted. _I only had one of those, _Tails thought. _It was meant for the doc. Guess I'll have to knock him out the hard way... Though the hard way does sound like more fun._

He picked up Rouge and looked around for an appropriate hiding spot. He noticed an air duct grill, got it open and put her in. _It's not exactly a five-star hotel, but it'll do._


	11. Belly of the Beast

After a few more minutes of walking, he arrived at the end of the hallway. A massive steel gate that could stop a nuke barred the way. Behind it was the center, the lair of the mastermind. And the only way to open it was a small panel on the wall to the right. Tails unscrewed the top plate and his work was quickly finished, in part thanks to Rouge's tinkerings with the security system.

Everything was silent for a second or two. Then, suddenly, the door unsealed and opened with deafening screeching and squealing of the metal. But what lay beyond was a sight to behold. It was an immense spherical chamber, measuring in diameter what must have been more than a hundred yards. The walls were red and rough. But the core itself - a single bridge, without security lines or supports, lead out straight into the very middle where it expanded into a circular plate with different consoles and control panels. On the far wall, several massive displays were mounted, with many thick cables running from them, merging into one large cord and disappearing through the very bottom. But by far the most interesting feature was on the ceiling - right above the plate, there was an upside-down dome, reachable only by a high ladder, with three glowing gems.

The fox proceeded down the walkway. In the very center there was a chair with a large figure that was yelling, "How many times have I told you not to interrupt me with your stupid progress reports?!" without even turning to look who it was. "I don't even know why I programmed you like that!"

Tails continued. Eggman heard the approaching steps. "My god, will you..." He violently spun around on his chair just as the fox reached the circular area. "...LEAVE ME ALONE?!" He was pointing his finger at the uninvited visitor. It took him a moment to register who it was he saw. When he did, his arm dropped and his eyebrows raised. "YIKES!" He jumped out of the seat and started backing up. "T-Tails? What a... what a surprise! However did you... get in here?" _What the heck is he doing here? HOW is he here? What the devil's going on? _These and other questions ran through Robotnik's mind.

"Oh, you know, a trip through the caves, a fly up to the bottom of your little base here..." Tails explained, amused by the doc's reaction. "Y'know, after I got in, it was a walk in the park."

_Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have put all my resources into the hull!_ "Well, umm, it's always nice to have guests..." Eggman reached a panel. "...but it's appropriate to give them the reception they deserve!" He leaped towards a big red button and slammed down on it. "My Sentinels will arrive shortly to annihilate you!" He stared at the entrance. After a second, so did Tails, inrtigued. "Any minute now!" the doc continued.

A few more seconds of nothing passed. The fox turned around, laughing. "Listen, Ivo, I hate to burst your bubble, but this chamber's defences've been deactivated. Check-mate."

Eggman began anxiously looking around. He tried to find something, anything, to keep Tails away, but he just couldn't - everything he otherwise needed was either on his computer or was brought to him somehow. It was the end of the line, and the fat doctor, in an attempt to make a break for it, charged the fox head on.

Tails got an ice-cold expression. He lunged at the rampaging Robotnik and delivered a punch straight to the face. Eggman's large mass stopped rather quickly as he tumbled to the ground. Trembling, he gathered what strength he had to get up on one knee. His nose was clearly broken, as were his goggles, and a trickle of blood ran from his forehead. The fox was standing right there before him. "Hey, doc, how're you feeling? Does your face hurt?" He struck him again. "Don't wory, this is only the beggining. I want to see how your fat-covered insides look." The last blow took Robotnik out cold.

_Heh heh. He wasn't so tough. But boy, do I have some stuff to do._ He ascended the ladder and gathered the emeralds, preventing any further incidents, and managed to unblock the core. He called a transport unit to take the doc to the opening in the hull, while stopping at two locations: the vent where he'd hidden Rouge, and a supply room for some rope to lower Eggman's large body to the ground. But just as he was about to leave, he remembered something.

_Rouge said the others were out there. Let's see what I can do with that._ He wrote a few commands in the terminal:

reroute auxiliary power [95]%; dest. thermal_scanner_[MAIN]

[]rerouting... complete

engage: rt. 127 - 8; f(focus) = 100 ++ 270

[]ROUTINE: thermal_scan_local_focus; scanning... complete

[]save: y/n

y

[]saving... done [( .loc.)/scans/spec/- AS thr_scn_ ]

print_disp [( .loc.)/scans/spec/thr_scn_ ]

And an infrared scan popped up on the display. Even though it was covered by foilage, he could see an elevated level of heat in one part of the image - Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow. _Perfect. They're right there, _he thought, and pressed a few other buttons.

.

.

Sonic was mumbling to himself. "Man, what's taking her so long?" The trio was standing behind some bushes and observing the entrance.

"It's a big place," answered Knuckles. "She might still be searching for a way to get the door open."

"Hey, you two, get over here," Shadow said suddenly. The gate was slowly opening. "Come on, let's go!" He ran of towards the base, while the other two were right on his heels.

Tails was observing all this through camera feeds. _Run, Shadow, run!_ A crosshair appeared on the screen and a robotic voice said, "target-locked". He flipped a switch and FIRE appeared written with big red letters all over the monitor.

Shadow was the first to notice something was headed straight for them very fast. He came to a screeching halt and jumped back to tackle the other two to the ground just as the missile hit and created a blazing fireball. Inside the base, Tails was celebrating. _Yes! Bullseye! You black jerk, what're you gonna do now, huh?_ Sonic and Knuckles' ears hurt bad because of the pressure created by the explosion, but it was Shadow who'd taken the full force of the blast. The other two pulled themselves together and ran to see what state their friend, who'd been flung thirty feet, was in. It wasn't a very pretty sight - he had large burn marks, in some places the skin had melted, and in others, been burnt to a crisp. But that wasn't all, deep shrapnel wounds littered his body, and his limbs were twisted in strange, unnatural directions.

The echidna looked away in disgust while Sonic kneeled next to Shadow with tears in his eyes. "Sh- Shad?" he asked with a trembling voice. No answer. The hedgehog tried to pick up his pal, but when he grabbed him, a tatter of skin got torn off. He barely kept himself from throwing up.

Shadow started moving his head a bit. "M-Maria?" *cough cough* "I-is that you?"

"No, no, it's me, Sonic!"

"Ma-Maria, I'm comin-g... I'm coming." With those words, he fell silent, and the others knew it was over.

"Damn you, Eggman! I'll make you pay!" shouted the hedgehog as he jumped to his feet and blazed towards the entrance. Knuckles tried in vain to stop him, so he stayed behind and guarded the body. Of course, by the time Sonic got his bearings in the facility, the culprit had already escaped. He returned to the field with slumped shoulders and looking into the distance. "Nothing," he said in a deep, depressed voice that sounded devoid of all joy. "Rouge is gone, too. She's probably been captured. Come on, let's go."

"W-what... Rouge? No..." the echidna said with a lump in his throat.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I know she was important to you."

*sigh* "Shit... Hey, what about Shadow?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic answered, "Take him if you want to. Otherwise, I'll come pick him up later."

"Fine..." said the echidna and put him on his shoulders, cringing as the burnt flesh touched his. He then added, "Damn, this got real messed up... Where d'you think he went?"

"Who?" the hedgehog asked, but not really caring much for the answer.

"Eggman! He wasn't in there from what I gathered."

"You're right. I think he went with whoever it was that killed Shadow," Sonic cryptically replied.

"Huh? ... Oh, no!" Knuckles dropped his friend and looked straight into the hedgehog's eyes. "For fuck's sake, don't give me that shit again!"

"What shit?" Sonic replied calmly.

"You don't think it was Robotnik, do you? You think it was that mystery man, who we've never even seen!" the echidna said with an undertone of anger.

"Yeah, so I do! You have a problem with that?"

"You bet your ass! Look at what's happened to us! That stupid kid, that stalker Amy, those two annoying rabbits, Shadow, and now Rouge! They're all gone! We're the only ones left! Maybe we wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't been such a pain!" Knuckles yelled back.

"Wait, you're saying I've been sitting on my ass this entire time?" asked Sonic who was beggining to get annoyed.

"No, I'm saying we'd be better off if you had!"

"Oh, yeah? Well maybe if SOMEONE was better at their job, Eggman woudn't have gotten the emeralds in the first place!" the hedgehog retorted.

"That so? Well that someone would rather be himself than a certain hotshot blue porcupine!" Knuckles responeded, clenching his fists.

"Well I prefer being a hotshot that a disgrace to MY ENTIRE RACE!" Sonic shouted.

"WHY YOU..." The echidna hit the hedgehog with a right hook, and he fell to the ground. Realising what he'd done, he tried to help his friend up, but he pushed his hand away.

"Just get off me, man," Sonic said while getting up and holding his cheek.

The echidna began apologising, "I'm... I'm really sorry... I-I don't know what came over me."

"It's- OWW" the hedgehog felt a stinging sensation under one of his teeth. "Damn... Anyway, it's fine. I think we both said some bad things, me more than you. I should be the one apologising here."

"It's just that... Sonic, this is too much... Did you see Shadow? I mean, I... I don't think I can take this..."

"Hey, it's cool... Just go home. I can do this alone." The hedgehog picked up his deceased friend. "Bye, Knuckles. I'll let you know if I find Rouge." With those words, they parted ways.


	12. The Beggining of the End

Sonic was standing at a grave on a nice meadow. _Shadow, this is the best place I could find. You deserve it, buddy. I hope you and Maria are happy, wherever you are._ He let on last tear run before returning to his house. The threat of Robotnik obliterating everything was now gone. The base was still sitting there, and would for about another month until the mayor got through the mountain of paperwork , but the real problem was: where were the others? The hedgehog now knew for a fact that it wasn't the mastermind - when he was in the core of his fortress right after Shadow had died, he found clear signs of a struggle.

_Man, I just can't solve this..._ he thought to himself as he was walking down the stairs into the abandoned workshop. _Tails, where could you be? You'd probably have this figured out in no time!_ He was observing the different contraptions and gizmos when something dawned on him. _Wait - didn't he say he was building another plane? But where is it? He never took anything to the hangar, and it sure as heck ain't here... Why would he lie?_ He pushed these thoughts out of his head, beleiveing he was just paranoid.

And so some days passed from the unhappy incindents with nothing interesting happening. Sonic was still searching, but to no avail, and he'd been keeping contact with Knuckles who'd decided to do some digging of his own. Just as the hedgohog was leaving the house, he found a folded piece of paper on the doorstep. The letters were written with sharp, jutting lines, but the message they carried was much more worring:

_Your friend in red_

_might hurt, so send_

_some help his way._

Sonic looked up in shock. _Red - Knux! Oh crap! _He ran off at full speed to the airport to get some means of transportation to the floating Angel island.

Knukles was taking a nap on top of the shrine, as he often did, and because of this failed to notice a metal pod landing on the far side of the isle. After about some half hour, a figure appeared at the edge of the forest surrounding the sacred place. It was Tails who'd comandeered one of Eggman's emergency capsules. He was carrying a single syringe, filled with the same compound he'd used earlier to subdue Rouge. He made his way up the back end, skipping the steps as not to wake up the echidna. He only felt a slight sting in his neck as the needle entered; he opened his eyes for but a moment, just to catch a glimpse of the fox, and fell back asleep.

Not long after, a chopper carrying the hedgehog touched down on that same field. Of course, by then, everyone'd disappeared. _SHIT! Shit, shit, shit, shit! FUCK! Where is he? Maybe he's gone for a piss? Wait, what? Sonic, get yourself together!_ His friend was nowhere to be found. _I was too slow... Knuckles, I'll find you, and the bastard who's doing this!_ He canvassed the stone floor more closely. Just by a stroke of luck he managed to find a single hair, and examined it carefully. _This isn't red, I think... It's more of a... of a... yellow... YELLOW?! Maybe... But... No, no of course not, that can't be it, can it? But the plane... And only he knew about the safe... Wait, slow down, think clearly: it wasn't him, it just seems that way because you're grasping at straws. He's your best friend, for god's sake! But what can I do?_ He remebered that Tails'd told him about a DNA sampling machine he'd made for an experiment. _That's it!I I'll use that, and then I'll be certain!_ What he didn't know was that even without it he would soon be meeting the secret somebody face to face.

.

.

Knuckles woke up drowsy and cofused. A strong light was shining on him, but the rest of his field of vision was filled by blackness. He slowly tried to move, but found he was unable to do so. Strong ropes were holding him firmly upright against a smooth steel surface, his extended arms and legs making him unpleasantly vulnerable. "Huh? HEY! WHERE THE HELL AM I?! WHAT IS THIS?! SOME KIND OF JOKE?!"

"No, this is serious bussiness!" A eerie voice floated in from beyond the light. "But it'll be fun nonetheless, hehehe..."

The sound was very familliar - it was one Knuckles hadn't heard in a while. "Holy mother of-"

He said no more as the villain finally revealed himself to him. A two-tailed fox stepped into the beam. His appearance was most offputting. He was holding a long knife in one hand and wearing a disturbing, half-deranged expression with a wide, toothy grin. His eyes were bloodshot and one of his gloves was torn. His fur was all messy, and, more discomfortingly, covered in blood in many places. "So, how do you like my new style?" he asked with a nervous, high-pitched voice. Twitching slightly, but constantly, he held up his forearm, revealing five deep scars, following in small gaps from the elbow down. "Look, I'm keeping count. And since you're here..." He took the knife and made another lengthy cut, licking the blood off the blade and wound as he pulled.

"What- what- what-" Knuckles couldn't say anything coherent. He noticed he couldn't see one of the fox's ring fingers. At first he thought he was just clenching it in a strange way, but he then realised - it wasn't there. It was gone. The glove had been cut off and tied up in that spot. Since he couldn't think of anything else, he simply mumbled, "Your... hand..."

Tails looked at it. "What? ... Oh, you mean this!" He wiggled the stump. "I'll explain, don't you worry." He jumped into the dark and appeared in a second holding what appeared to be a sort of clawed gauntlet. "I made this for fun but one of my fingers wouldn't fit 'cause I made a mistake somewhere. So I decided: why make another one, when I can get rid of the problem with a hatchet? But enough about that. Time to get to..." He flipped a switch and lamps illuminated the room. "...the main attraction!" The sight revealed was atrocious. A macabre carnival of pain and tormet unraveled itself before the echidna's eyes. All his missing friends, and even Eggman, were there. Knuckles looked away, but the image had already been firmly imprinted in his mind:

On the very left was Vanilla. Not that he could tell by her face - it was missing, peeled off, revealing red tissue below. Right next to her was her daughter Cream. Maggots were already eating into her putrid corpse, and she was deathly thin, though she'd probably died from dehidration, judging by how long she'd been missing. Next in line was Rouge. The bat'd had her... private parts cut off, along with her wings. Last was Eggman. He was also the worst off. His eyes weren't there, with two gaping holes instead. His jaw'd been torn off, and was lying at his feet, and his tongue was loosely hanging out. And the rest... well, his entire front side was open, revealing his intestines. The lungs and heart'd been removed, and his guts were pulled out and lying on the ground like a long, bloody snake.

"What... the... fuck..." The echinda had a hard time computing what was going on.

"Isn't it... marvelous?" Tails asked, taking great pleasure in his works of art, as he thought of them. He spun around, looking straight at Knuckles with wild bloodlust in his eyes as he approached him, waving the knife. "It think it's time you were added to my collection."

"No... NO! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU SICK FUCK! YOU CRAZY MOTHERFUCKER!" Knuckles yelled, trashing about, but the leather straps proved too tough.

"Oh, I think we all go a little mad sometimes! I just decided... not to stop..." He took the blade and carved the word 'TAILS' into his victim's chest.

"AHHH! God damn it... it fuckin' hurts..." The echidna felt weak; the stress'd sapped all his strength.

"It's supposed to," said the fox as he planned out the incisions that would allow him to strip Knuckles' skin off like a loose shirt. And there was nothing, nothing at all, the poor echidna could do to stop him.


	13. Revelations

Back in Sation Square, Sonic'd just managed to figure out how to work the DNAnalyzer, as the machine was called. He looked in the database to see whose DNA'd even been recorded. _Hmm... Just a couple of animals and Tails. Well, if nothing else, this'll at least rule him out._ He placed the hair in a slot on the device and pressed a few buttons. Some lights lit up and a low humming noise came from the contraption. After about ten seconds, it was done, and the hedgehog brought up the results. He slowly took a step back in shock. A robotic voice said out loud what he'd seen, "Miles-Prower-100-percent-match". "No, this can't be it! There's been some sort of mistake!" He reran the test again and again, always with the same results._ This... makes no sense... It couldn't have been him, I'm sure of it!_

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Sonic, not knowing what to make of the entire situation, went to open it. It was just the postman who had a package for him. He took it; much to his surprise, there was a letter inside. _Who'd send a letter inside a package?_ _This'd better not be one of that bastard's tricks!_ It wasn't, but it was something much worse. The hedgehog read it, intrigued. It said:

_I think our little game has gone on long enough. Meet me at the airstrip, at that hangar, at 8PM, and you'll see everything. Oh, BTW, I'd but that pic in a canvas or someting, it's really nice._

_Pic? What pic?_ He looked at the contets of the envelope and noticed that he'd missed a piece of paper. _What's this? _He would wish he never got the answer to that question. The moment he saw the picture, he froze in place. _This... is... No, this is fake or someting!_ But it wasn't - it was very real indeed, and he knew it. The photo depicted Tails standing over a surgery table, holding up a peace sign and smiling cheerfuly. But that wasn't the problem - it was the background. It showed the very same thing that Knuckles, who was missing on the image, had seen when he woke up: his friends, horribly mutilated and maimed almost beyond recognition.

The hedgehog had a hard time holding back vomit. After he collected himself, he sat down on the livingroom sofa and just stared off at the wall, caught deep in thought. Hours passed as the clock ticked away to 8. It was almost time. Sonic, who hadn't budged, silently got up and walked towards the meeting place, his head filled with despair and sadness.

.

.

The runway seemed desolate and abandoned at this time. The overcast skies called for rain and a strong wind was blowing. Everything seemed to have a green tint to it, with no discernible reason why. Sonic was standing there with a kitchen knife concealed behind his back. He'd come to accept the truth, however harsh it was. He didn't know why or how his friend did it, but he knew he had to stop him at all costs. He wouldn't let their relationship interfere - the end of this fell affair would be swift and painless for them both. The clock stuck 8.

A figure appeared on the edge of the forest. As it approached, more features became visible. The hedehog only needed to know one thing: the number of tails. When he came close enough that Sonic could ascertain it was really Tails, he tackled him and pinned him to the ground. The two looked deeply into each other's eyes.

"Hello, Sonic," began the fox.

The hedgehog raised his knife and tried to finish it, but he didn't have the strength. He needed the answers, he needed some sort of conclusion. "Tails... WHY? Why?"

"You want to know why? Hell, don't ask me! Drag me to a shrink if you want to get some insight into my mind. Though I wouldn't recommend it; it's fucked up beyond all recognition, I guarantee you that."

Sonic could almost feel the darkness and madness of someone he considered a friend. It sent chills down his spine. "Amy, Cream, Vanilla, Shadow, Rouge, Eggman and Knuckles... It was all you, wasn't it?" He was crying. He couldn't bear to think about that possibility - even now, when it was the only one. "What made you do this? We're your friends, Tails! Sure, Shadow was mean sometimes, but deep down, he respected you!"

"My friends?" the fox asked. "Yes, you are, and that makes it all the more thrilling. You should've heard the screams. It was like an orchestra of pain and sorrow, and I was the conductor. The blood was the paint, and I was the artist. This... this wasn't about a grudge, I could care less about what that black, depressed moron had to say about me. It was about seeing his skin melt like cheese, his flesh being burnt to a crisp, the pain frying every neuron in his little head. 'What made you do this, Tails? Why, why, boo-fucking-hoo?' I-I don't know! It's like trying someting out for the first time and discovering you were born for it... And in my case... I just want to... hurt people."

"Come on, Tails, this isn't you! Snap out of it!" Sonic shouted at him.

"This... This isn't me? Does it look like this isn't me? THIS IS ME! Okay? I'm fucked up, I'm sick, I'm crazy, what more do you want me to say? And I won't stop unless you make me! So COME ON!"

The hedgehog took in a deep breath. He agiain raised the blade and closed his eyes. Then, he thrusted down. He felt the blade come to a stop. And he knew it was finished. "Forgive me, Tails," he said, without opening his eyelids.

"But Sonic, I'll have nothing to forgive."


	14. Epilogue

Sonic opened his eyes in shock just as he felt burning pain in his abdomen. He looked down and saw it: Tails was holding the knife just inches from his chest, the blade slicing deep into his palm, but he didn't seem to mind. As for his other arm - only now did the hedgehog notice the fox was wearing the clawed gauntlet, and it was digging itself into his stomach. Tails pushed him away and got up, looking at his dying friend. "Oh, Sonic, I know you hate seeing me like this, so I WON'T make this quick."

"Tail-Tails..." The hedgehog coughed up blood.

"Ye-Yes, Sonic?" the fox asked mockingly.

"I-I..." He collapsed to the ground, and his body went limp.

Tails was looking down upon his bloodied corpse. The grand hero, the bane of all evil, the protector of the planet, and all his friends, had been done in by a young yellow fox with a piece of metal strapped to his hand. _It's done, _he thought. _I've killed Sonic. What for? Not even I know that. I guess I... felt like it, hehehe... Oh god, man, what've I done? What've I become? _He looked at his red gloves._ An animal, a monster... They'll have to make a whole new circle of hell just for me... And it feels... good..._ His lips extended into a wide grin as he looked up at the sky with a sense of accomplishement. He picked up Sonic and put him over his shoulder. Remembering his actions, he let one final tear run down his cheek. Then, he spun arround and walked away.

The first raindrops were starting to fall. And as Tails walked off into the veil of the night, his silhouette disappearing amongst the many trees, a madman's cackle echoed throughout the woods.

**.**

**.**

**Hope you enjoyed! :)**

**LIVE LONG AND MAY THE TRIFORCE BE WITH YOU!**


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